Why is my sand in my 10gallon tank so dirty?

[Ryleyman]

I might be a little late, but your tank actually looks great in my opinion. We set up our tank last thursday, a week ago, and the sand is just now beginning to clear up. Thats with 2 filters running and constantly cleaning the filters lol. Yours does look pretty good, im suprised. How did you get it to settle so fast?

Ps, love spongebob <3

Thanks your the first person that has ever said my tank looks nice =) and I just shut off every thing and let it settle.

 

[Lady_Alia]

Is that real bamboo???

 

[Ryleyman]

Is that real bamboo???

Yep it's real

 

[daileene]

A real bamboo is not fully aquatic so you should have the leaves out in the water or it will start rotting.

 

[hippy guy]

+1 cant have leaves submersed. Ive also read that rotting bamboo can harm the fish during the breakdown period

 

[hippy guy]

Thanks your the first person that has ever said my tank looks nice =) and I just shut off every thing and let it settle.

More people would give you those types of comments in the tank showoff section. You started a post stating you have a problem, not fishing for comments dude. Noone has said what they did to hjrt you, or your tanks dignity. But honestly a properly stocked tank is the most beautiful thing imho, and everything else just makes me sad.
Dont mistake our passion on here for bullying, we just know that a proper tank is a happy tank, and we strive to let everyone know how easy it is to stock and manage your water paremeters. I hope youve settled on a good stock list, and honestly, if you must do cichlids, i still feel that a planted 10 would be sufficient for a breeding pair of long fin rams, but thats probobly it. If you want excitement, smaller tetras will constantly school and dart around, establishing, and then re establishing a peckng order.
If you want beauty, dwarf gouramis are nice, as are crowntail bettas.
You could even have some tetras and a few kuhli loaches in there.
If your looking for somthing impressivd, there are lots of mid sized 10 gal fish that are both colorful and fun to watch.
For diversity, some neons, or plattys/sword tails, and some amano, crystal, cherry, or glass shrimp.
Arent there some smaller bottom cats that are suitable for a 10
What do those upsidown cats go in?

 

[Ukdans1k]

To be totally honest I think you will enjoy the hobby more with a bigger tank. Start out as I'm sure most of us did with community fish, tetras , Molly's, Barbs, gourami that kinda thing. And see how you get on. Gain some experience and knowledge . And then move on to cichlids if you still want too.

By keeping hardy fish to start, if you make a mistake it won't be so bad on you or the fish or costly. Don't be afraid to ask questions, but don't always expect to get the answer you want to hear. But do take onboard everyones opinons, as most of us have lots of experience. we all start somewhere and I guarantee we all made the same mistakes. If we point out a mistake please don't take it personally, it's not a dig at you. It's to help and aid you even if it seems blunt. Your not expected to know it all.

Most importantly don't give up, it is a massive learning curve when you first start out in the hobby, but it's suppose to be fun and enjoyable. And it is when you get into the swing of things.
Good luck

 

[Ryleyman]

How many guppies would I want in my 10 gallon when I get rid of my cichlids?

 

[hippy guy]

Maybe 4 or 5? Im not a guppy pro, there kinda small, and not to active compared to the size..

 

[Bags101]

I will be happy to take your yellow lab.

 

[barterking85]

Their bio load is small and so are they I do 10 in a 10 gallon all day long

 

[Ryleyman]

I will be happy to take your yellow lab.

I'm only 14 I can't my mom won't let me ship any thing:\

 

[Bags101]

Just have her bring it back to the pet store and maybe they will give you credit for it...

 

[Ryleyman]

Just have her bring it back to the pet store and maybe they will give you credit for it...

Ya Thats what I'm going to do

 

[a.tetreault]

Okay so I have read this whole post and am seeing so many people giving you tons of information, your probably overwhelmed for your ten gallon tank I would recommend the following stock list (once you have the cichlids rehomed)

Stocking option 1: 5 or 6 guppies (you can do all male, or a combination of male and female but they do breed a LOT so you have to have a place for babies)

Stocking option 2: 6 neon tetras and 1 dwarf gourami

Stocking option 3: 1 Platy and 6 neon tetras

Those are just some options and they would all do well with some live plants if you wanted to add those also you could try putting ghost or cherry shrimp in any of those setups (say around 8 shrimp) or maybe an apple snail or a nerite snail.

These fish will all need heated water at around 78 degrees and I would do weekly water changes you will also need a gravel vac to clean up that fish poo, they are fairly cheap.

Please read about cycling the tank before buying anything else, you can either buy a water test kit (If you decide to trade in your cichlids instead of getting a bigger tank) or you can bring samples of your water to a petstore and have them test it.

I would recommend you trade in some of your fish for store credit that way you can have extra cash for your ten gallon, then once you got the hang of taking care of the small tank you can work up to bigger tanks if you want. good luck and feel free to private MSG me on the forum if you have any other questions, your tank looks great, and will look even better with nice healthy fish!

 

[barterking85]

A ten gallon is usually where we all start unfortunately it is harder to keep then a larger tank because small fluctuations are more pronounced in a small tank if you can master the 10 gallon upgrading will be easy in comparison

Whatever you choose I wish you good luck and your tank looks great we all love the switch to sand

 

[Ryleyman]

Thanks every one for ALL THE HELP

 

[hippy guy]

Their bio load is small and so are they I do 10 in a 10 gallon all day long

Word? That be a fun tank. 10 guppies would provide alot of movement, and if you can break line of sight often in the aquascape, then they will constantly be searching

 

[hippy guy]

I think at this point were beating a dead horse, because this has all been said over and over.
Good luck with the tank. And if you want, make a tank log on here, im sure you will get more targeted info/tips as opposed to in this thread. Good luck and enjoy the hobby

 

[stone1269]

On Sunday I switched from gravel to sand but the sand is really dirty

Hey where u get the sponge bob background lol my kids would love it they have an all sponge bob themed tank